TCS to be fined for passport project delay

India's top IT services firm by sales, Tata Consultancy Services, has been reportedly asked by the government to pay penalty for missing the second deadline in implementing Passport Seva Project.

TCS was to set up seven pilot Passport Seva Kendras (PSK) in Chandigarh and Bangalore by October 1.

According to a report, the government has sent a notice to the company asking it to pay Rs 2 lakh as penalty for every week of delay in project.

The ministry of external affairs' (MEA) Passport Seva Project is estimated to cost over Rs 100 crore. But even after a year since the government signed an agreement with TCS to issue passports within three days, the project is yet to take off.

After missing its first deadline in June, TCS had announced that the pilot project in Bangalore and Chandigarh would start in October.

However, recent reports revealed that the main reason for delay is that TCS had not got its software ready. There have been too many errors in the software which is currently in testing phase.